
5 7SS 



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What Made Tibet Mysterious? 



Notes on Tibet's Topography, History and Religion 



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WALTER J. KIDD ^4%' 



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Hin^Uiya JnU • 



_.3q,ooo Feet 2cti)ve_S.eaJcv.e 

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_ .2 0.0.0.0 Tkian SHah nitV, 

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This diagram represents a north and south line about 3,000 miles 
long, from the Siberian plains running over the mountains and across 
the Tibetan plateau to the plains of India, both plains being near sea 
level. Scale about 600 miles to an inch. 

The elevations are on a scale of about 25,000 feet to an inch. 




Newark, N. J. 

NEWARK MUSEUM ASSOCIATION 

1921—1922 



Reprint from The Newark, N. J., Sunday Call, October 23, 1921. 

Tibetan Exhibit at Free Public 
Library in December Will Portray 
Little Known Elemental Civilization 



More Than Eight Hundred Objects Brought Here by Amer- 
ican Missionary, Dr. Albert L. Shelton, to Give 
Insight Into Interesting Life of Isolated 
People of Long-Forbidden Land. 



THE principal event of the year at 
the Free Public Library will be the 
Tibetan exhibition to be opened by 
the Museum Association on December 7. 
It will be the most notable display shown 
at the library since the Colombian ex- 
hibit of three years ago. With more than 
800 objects brought from Tibet by the 
American medical missionary, Dr. Albert 
L. Shelton, an opportunity such as has 
never before been enjoyed will be afforded 
to Newarkers to get a closer insight into 
the interesting- life of the isolated people 
of the long' forbidden land, a land that 
in its mountain fastnesses has sheltered 
elemental races and civilizations, while 
other peoples of the world were moving 
forward m the path of progress. 

The forthcoming exhibition is to be held 
under the auspices of the Contemporary 
of Newark. There is to be a private 
view on Tuesday, December 6, with the 
formal opening on the following day. 

This large collection includes paintings 
and pictured scrolls, rich in glow of color, 
from lamaseries (monasteries) and tem- 
ples, together with all kinds of articles 
used in the elaborate ceremonies of public 
worship or private devotion — censers, in- 
cense burners, altar lamps, bowls and 
other vessels for holy water, prayer 
wheels, sweet-toned bells, cymbals, trum- 
pets, some made out of human bones, 
drums made from the crowns of skulls, 
offering bowls, prayer beads like rosaries, 
charm boxes, images of Buddha, of 
gods, goddesses and demons, begging 
bowls and hoods of the monks or 
lamas and, last but not least, valuable 



sacred books. It contains clothing and 
other articles illustrating the domestic 
life of the people— earrings for women 
and men, finger rings, head dresses, 
coats, dresses, belts, curtains brocaded 
satin, mirrors, churns, snuff boxes, tea- 
pots, bowls, pitchers, wine bottles, locks 
and keys, seals, coins, bridles, saddles and 
harness, saws, etc. There is a headsman's 
knife used by the executioner, swords, 
guns and other military accoutrements. 
Among the clothing is some that was 
worn by a one-time living Buddha. There 
are also numerous photographs taken by 
Dr. iShelton which admirably aid in illus- 
trating the topography of the country, its 
social types and national customs. 

Dr. Shelton's Career. 

Dr. Albert D. Shelton, to whose efforts 
the possession by Newark of this valu- 
able collection is due, was born in In- 
diana about forty-six years ago. The 
family moved to Kansas, where he was 
brought up on a farm. When he was 17 
he began teaching school and three years 
later he himself entered the school at 
Emporia. While he was securing an edu- 
cation there he carried newspapers, acted 
as janitor, cut wood, herded cows, tend- 
ed furnaces, tutored and otherwise cov- 
ered his expenses. He married a pupil 
he had met in the Normal School. Later 
he secured a scholarship in a Kentucky 
medical school, worked his way through 
the medical course and. after being gradu- 
ated as a physician he became medical 
missionary under the Foreign Christian 
Missionary Society. Following his or- 






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dination as a minister when he was 28 
years old, he and his wife went to China. 
They ascended the upper Yangtsze River 
and then crossed the mountains to Tat- 
sien-lu. There they learned Chinese and 
Tibetan and Dr. Shelton practiced medi- 
cine. There also their daughters, Doris 
and Dorothy, were born. 

From there they journeyed later over 
fourteen mountain passes into Batang' in 
Tibet, where the children grew up with 
the Tibetan language as their native 
tongue. A hospital was opened. The 
people were instructed in sanitation and 
hygiene and all sorts of beneficent activi- 
ties were started by Dr. and Mrs. Shel- 
ton, the latter having' also been engaged 
in the translation of portions of the 
Scriptures into the Tibetan language. 

Twice in their eighteen years of service 
they have returned to the United States. 
Their daughters are at present at school 
in California but are later to rejoin Dr. 
'Shelton who has obtained permission 
from the Dalai Lama, the head of the 
government of Tibet, to open the first 
medical school at Lhasa, the capital of 
the country. It is to be the beginning- of 
the introduction of modern medical 
knowledge and efficiency into this iso- 
lated land in place of its old-time reli- 
ance on charms, magic and other useless 
and mischevious methods that have come 
down from dark and distant bygone 
times. 

The Switzerland of Asia. 

Three miles up in the air, near the top 
of the world and with an area greater 
than that of France and Germany com- 
bined, is the table land of Tibet, walled 
in by giant mountains that make the 
Alps seem small. The maximum eleva- 
tion of the Tibetan plateau is 17,600 feet, 
more than 2,000 feet higher than Mont 
'Blanc, the monarch of Europe's moun- 
tains, and higher than our Rockies. On 
the southern 'border of Tibet the world's 
loftiest sumnciit. Mount Everest (29,000 
feet) in the Himalayas, casts its mighty 
shadow over the land. 

Despite its extensive area it has a small 
population, the inclemency of its climate, 
its scanty pasturage and the poorness of 
its soil resulting in its supporting only 
about 6,000,000 people. Great portions of 
the country are uninhabited except by 
wild beasts. The city of Lhasa itself has 
a population of only 15,000 to 20,000. 

This fastness amidst eternal snows 
became from early times a refuge for 
more backward peoples. For ages in- 



vasion after invasion and unceasing 
struggle for possesson of the rich 
alluvial plains of Northern India went 
on. Weaker races that stood in the 
way were destroyed or reduced to ser- 
vitude. But none of the conquering 
peoples coveted the stern and largely 
desolate mountain land or envied its 
possessors so long as at the foot of 
the mountains were the broad cham- 
paigns of India. 

Some sixteen centuries or more be- 
fore the Christian era the Aryan in- 
vaders entered India from the north- 
west, followed at later times by suc- 
cessive streams of the same race. They 
gave the Sanscrit language and in 
large part the Brahman religion to 
India. In the fourth century B. C. the 
armies of Alexander the Great poured 
into the country. About the date of 
the Christian era came the Huns. In 
the middle ages the onrush of the 
Mongol hordes brought terror and des- 
olation in its path. The Mohammedan 
conquerors followed. Then came Tam- 
erlane and still later the Mogul con- 
quests. The struggles of all these 
peoples took place in the plains far 
below the mountain fastness of Tibet. 

If we look at a geographical diagram 
giving a sectional view of Asia from 
north to south it will show us the 
loftiest and most extensive plateau in 
the w^orld, a tableland rising like a 
towering citadel above the plains be- 
low. None of the invading hosts ever 
crossed it to enter India. No one wanted 
the three-mile climb up that mighty 
bastion. Genghis Khan, the Mongol 
conquerer, worked all around it by way 
of Bokhara and Afghanistan when he 
invaded India. 

These conditions allowed the inhabi- 
tants of this lofty plateau to remain 
unmolested while world historic strug- 
gles raged near at hand. Primitive 
and elemental groups were preserved 
and afford us opportunity today to 
study early cultures and types that 
have elsewhere passed away. It is not 
impossible that in the more ancient 
stocks among the people of Tibet there 
may be something in common with 
the Accadians and Sumerians, who 
laid the foundations of Babylon and 
created the civilization that later 
Semitic peoples seized and appropri- 
ated. The earliest Babylonians were a 
broad-skulled (brachycephalic) people. 
They gave to the world industrial arts, 
including the working of metals. They 
were exceedingly religious but pro- 
foundly superstitious, devoted to the 
efficacy of charms and incantations, to 
an elaborate ritual and ceremonial in 
public worship and haunted by dark 
and terrible fears of demons and other 
powers of evil. The Tibetans, the purer 
elements of which are of the broad- 
skulled type, have similar character- 
istics. 

Wives With Several Husbands. 

Another indication of primitive con- 



ditions is the prevalence of polyandry. It 
is usually carried out by the brothers of 
a family having one wife in common. 
Generally the elder brother is considered 
the father of the children and the other 
brothers as uncles. As a rule there is 
harmony in these families, but sometimes 
one husband will drive another out. The 
wife has a position of importance, but 
she is also likely to find she has to serve 
several masters instead of one. The 
children of such fainilies do not seem to 
be numerous, three or four being" the 
average. Such a system would naturally 
lead to an excess of unmarried women. 
There is a partial offset, however, . 
through a certain amount of polygamy, 
'but the tendency is to a large proportion 
of unmarried women. In addition to this 
almost every family gives one son 
to the church to be brought up as a 
lama (monk), so that one-seventh of the 
people consist of these celibates. 

Polyandry has generally arisen in con- 
ditions where the struggle of life was 
hard, whereas polygamy was more of a 
luxury of the rich and had, therefore, 
less widespread effects. In Tibet, while 
among the plain people a wife may have 
four or five husbands, a king, prince or 
other high personage does not so share 
his wife with others, but has one or more 
wives who are the wives of himself alone. 

Claim Descent From Apes. 

The Tibetans are a genial, kindly, 
easy-going people, fond of dancing and 
gaiety; honest withal, but lacking in 
initiative and energy. They have been 
successful in the working of metals — 
iron gold, etc. — and in the manufacture 
of the articles they use in domestic 
life and for religious purposes. Be- 
side the older Tibetan stock other 
types are found due to infiltrations 
from China on the east, Mongolia on 
the north and India on the south. But 
the old Tibetan character has in gen- 
eral dominated and modified the others. 

A curious tradition exists among 
them as to their origin. It is the frank 
claim that they are descended from 
apes, which has an interest in connec- 
tion with the teachings of anthrop- 
ology and the proximity of Tibet to 
the cradles of the human race. An 
ape from India, these stories tell us, 
and a female demon from the Hima- 
layas were the parents of six chil- 
dren which in time increased to 500. A 
famine came upon them until a 
friendly deity, Chenresig, declaring 
that he would be their protector, pro- 
cured for them supplies of five kinds of 
grain. As the consequence of eating 
this grain their tails and the hair on 
their bodies grew shorter and shorter 
until they finally disappeared. The 
monkeys began to speak, became men 
and clothed themselves with leaves. 

Today the more peculiarly Tibetan 
types are said to have some resem- 
blance to the American Indians. There 
are also Chinese types and others that 
show thoroughly western physiog- 



nomies and might easily pass for 
Europeans. 

Racially the Tibetans are classed as 
Turko-Mongols, With the exception 
of some Mongol and semi-Chinese dia- 
lects the languages spoken in Tibet 
belong- to the linguistic family known 
as Tibeto-Burman, which is one of the 
divisions of the Turano-Scythian lan- 
guages. 

The Forbidden Land. 

The situation of Tibet made it easy for 
the country to become a "forbidden land." 
During the middle ages a few Roman 
Catholic missionaries visited that country, 
but even in the course of several cen- 
turies their number was very small. The 
first Englishman to enter Tibet went on 
a special embassy in 1774. In 1811 Thomas 
Manning made his way from India to 
Lhasa, the capital, being the first English- 
man who had reached the holy city. But 
he soon had to leave it. During the nine- 
teenth century Europeans were con- 
stantly prevented from entering the 
country or speedily expelled if found in 
it. In 1844-1846 two French missionaries, 
made their way to Lhasa from China, 
but were soon deported back again. In 
1866 the Abbe Desgodins entered eastern 
Tibet, but was prevented approacihing 
any closer to Lhasa. Later still a Rus- 
sian officer explored portions of northern 
Tibet, but was unable to penetrate south- 
ward. 

Although treaties provided for the secur- 
ity of trade ibetween Tibet and India con- 
tinual hindrances to this trade occurred on 
the Tibetan side. Consequently in 1904 the 
Indian government sent a mission under 
Sir Francis Younghusband with an escort 
to arrange matters with the Tibetan 
government. The British party met 
with opposition, but it reached Lhasa, 
where a convention was agreed to settling 
the questions at issue. Confirmatory 
agreements were made with China as 
suzerain and with Russia, the latter 
guarding against danger from pro-Rus- 
sian or pro-British activities in Tibet 
by providing that neither country 
should have a representative at Lhasa.. 
The British troops w^ere "withdrawn.. 
The results were most happy and did 
much to remove the prejudices of Ti- 
betans against Europeans. 

Dr. Shelton mentions Tibetans who told 
him how, after being taken prisoners in 
the fighting, the British nursed them in 
the raospitals, sent them safely back and 
gave them money to take them home. 
Nothing had done so much to lower the 
bars of the forbidden land, and now Dr. 
SIhelton's years of healing service as a 
medical missionary has carried this feel- 
ing still further and secured for him ad- 
mission to Lhasa and opportunity tO' 
open his hospital there. The British- 
Russian treaty, however, still seems to 
prevent any activities of British or Rus- 
sian missionaries in Tibet. There is prob- 
ably fear on the part of the British that 
church missions' in Tibet might be a. 
means of political exploitation and propa- 



ganda. So that to some extent the bars 
are still up. 

A Wonderland of Religion. 

Religion is everywhere in evidence in 
Tibet. Its all-absorbing dominating char- 
acter strikes every visitor. It is, how- 
ever, religion of a deeply superstitious 
character, marked by an intense belief 
in ghosts, devils, charms, incantations 
and in the efficacy of strange mechanical 
expedients to ward off the powers of 
evil that surprise the stranger. The 
prayer wheel is an illustration. It may 
be large or small. There are small ones, 
about the size of an alarm clock, that 
can be set on a table. Inside the wheel 
is a roll inscribed with prayers and pious 
ejaculations, repeated over and over 
again, such as the "Oim mane padme 
hum." It is believed that the mechanical 
turning of the wheel gives efficacy to 
the prayers that are written within. You 
call on a Tibetan friend. He receives 
you, and, seated with the table and 
prayer wheel near at hand, as you both 
talk— business of pleasantries or other 
matters— he does not fail to give the 
prayer wheel occasional twists, so that 
the conversation and mechanical praying 
go on together. Large prayer wheels are 
sometimes run by water power, thus 
securing continuous offering up of the 
prayers. Prayer flags are an equivalent 
aid to prayer. Prayers or religious 
ejaculations are inscribed upon them. In 
large numbers such flags are strung on 
cords. All Tibet is more or less awave 
with these countless flags wafting the 
prayers to heaven or to the gods, demons 
or spirits to whom they are addressed, 
while at the same time serving as a very 
pleasing and graceful decorative feature. 

The devotion of Tibetans to charms, 
spells and magic is so deep-rooted that 
some of the lamaseries (monasteries) have 
schools for the teaching of magic to 
those who are to become lamas (monks) 
and who are to derive their incomes partly 
from the exercise of this art. Their 
temples or places of worship are sup- 
posed to be haunted 'by the goblin ghosts 
of mischievous ecclesiastics who former- 
ly ministered there. 

There is a gruesome character in the 
fondness of Tibetans for the crowns of 
skulls as dishes or drums, for trumpets 
made out of human thigh bones, espe- 
cially if these parts of human anatomy 
come from the body of a near and dear 
relative. In the collection at the library 
there is quite a little graveyard in the 
way of human remains worked up into 
articles of general use, among these being 
aprons made of bones from the hand and 
elsewhere strung together. These latter 
are worn by the monks in the exercise of 
their religious duties. 

Public worship is marked by the most 
elaborate ritual and ceremonial. Mixed 
up with all these features is a certain 
amount of more distinctively Buddhist 
teaching. Lamaism is, however, the best 
name for the national religion. It claims 
to be Buddhism, but is far removed from 



the original doctrines of that great 
teacher. 

Buddha, who was contemporary with 
the Chinese sage Confucius and whose 
great religious work dates from the early 
part of the fifth century before Christ, 
sought primarily to purify and simplify 
the religious ideas of his time. With the 
dying out of the Aryan stock that gave 
its northern vigor to the life of India, its 
influence was gradually supplanted by 
that of the older peoples — the Mediter- 
ranean stock that had affinities with the 
present brunet populations of south- 
ern Europe and the still older and more 
swarthy Dravidian and Negrito popula- 
tions, who were more deeply supersti- 
tious. Outbreeding of the higher races by 
the more primitive peoples went on and 
led to the decline of both Brahminism 
and Buddhism. 

Corruption of Buddhism. 

Buddhism has probably retained its 
greatest purity in Burmah. In India, its 
birthplace, it became corrupted with su- 
perstitious elements drawn from the older 
popular religions. Gods many and lords 
many were introduced, dark and debas- 
ing rites and usages crept in from the 
older faiths, complicated and senseless 
ritual and ceremonial, abhorrent to all the 
teaching- -ef Buddha, gained ground, 
with attention to idle and endless repe- 
titions of sacred phrases and prayers 
rather than deeds. Charms, incanta- 
tions, magic and the mechanical relig- 
ious aids that have been already 
referred to gained ascendancy. The 
multiplication of words was held to 
count, and in public worship entire 
chapters from the service books 
would sometimes be rushed through with 
the most remarkable dispatch by the 
ingenious expedient of each monk in- 
toning at the same time a different verse 
so that an entire chapter would be chant- 
ed in the same time as a single verse. 

Strange pranks were played with the 
ancient doctrine of reincarnation. Buddha 
held that deliverance from the endless 
round of fresh incarnations and from the 
sorrows and evils of life could only be 
found by a change of heart that involved 
an entire break with all earthly desires 
even of life here or hereafter. He who 
by such renunciation, by a life of con- 
templation and the sole pursuit of holi- 
ness had found redemption from his own 
lower self, had attained "Arahatship," 
and his "karma" (character) could not 
pass on to any other individual in an- 
other life, that is, after "Arahatship" 
there would be no rebirth. 

But in the corruption that went on the 
return to earth of Buddhas or spirits of 
Buddhas was accepted. Deities of all 
kinds became associated with them. It 
was in northern India that this decad- 
ence began, and it was this corruption 
of Buddhism that was accepted in Tibet 
and there merged with the older religion. 
Dr. Shelton says of the Tibetans that 
they are "perhaps the most religious peo- 
ple on earth. Their faith is nominally 
Buddhism, but in reality it is more truly 



a veneer of Buddhism over the old Bon 
religion, a religion of devil worship. They 
are exceedingly superstitious, believing 
in ghosts and in the daily interference 
of devils in their affairs." 

The Temporal Power. 

Originally Tibet was ruled by kings 
and chieftains, but in the middle ages 
the abbot of the Sakya Monastery 
gained control and was recognized by 
the Mongol ruler, Kublai Khan, as the 
tributary sovereign of the country and 
the ecclesiastical head of Buddhism. 
Thus was established the temporal 
power of the Dalai Lama, the pope of 
Tibetan Buddhism, who lives at the 
capital, the holy city of Lhasa. He is 
looked on as more than an ordinary 
mortal, as nothing less than a rein- 
carnation of the spirit of the Buddhas. 
When he dies the names of all the 
children born in Tibet since his death 
are sent in. After solemn ceremo'nies. 
and a week of prayer, names are 
drawn, the first being that of the child 
that is believed to be the reincarnation 
of the lately deceased Grand Lama, 
the infant being recognized and brought 
up as the Dalai Lama. 

Religion, being the dominant feature 
of Tibet, naturally calls for especial 
attention. But there is not space to 
tell all of the wonderful story of the 
immense lamaseries, almost villages in 
themselves; of the celibate lamas and 
great abbots, of the impressiveness of 
the service at the great cathedral at 
Lhasa, with the Dalai Lama, the chief 
abbots and other leading dignitaries 
ofRciating with the most elaborate cere- 
monial, the chanting of the service, the 
tinkling of the soft-toned bells, the clash 
of cymbals, the blare of trumpets, the 
glow of altar lights, the aroma of 
incense, the rich vestments of the 
lamas, the mystic rites and the many 
other points of interest of this strange 
form of religious faith. 

Secular Life of the People. 

Tibet has its mountain passes, its 
mountain torrents, its grazing lands on 
the plains or mountainsides, and its cul- 
tivated lands in the valleys below. There 
are no railways or great highways 
(wagon roads). The yak, a mountain ox, 
serves as the beast of burden, and as it 
is covered with wool like a sheep it serves 
more than one purpose. This yak, or 
woolly ox, is also a survival, perhaps, 
from the days of the woolly elephant. It 
thrives in the high, bleak altitudes and 
dies off on removal to warmer regions. 
In addition to the yak. heavy loads are 
also carried long distances on men's 
shoulders, the men under these weights 
climbing and descending the mountains, 
even old men stepping out cheerily under 
these heavy burdens. 

Tea from China is carried all over 
Tibet either by yaks or men. It is the 
national and popular drink, but is brewed 
in a way all their own. So universal and 



extensive is its use that it is often pre- 
pared, especially in lamasaries, on a 
wholesale scale in great vats large 
enough to hold a man ; in fact the Chi- 
nese have in some cases boiled Tibetan 
prisoners alive in such cauldrons. 

The sojourn of Dr. Shelton, an Ameri- 
can, in Tibet at the seat of gov- 
ernment with the full approval of the 
Dalai Lama is an unusual occurrence, 
especially when British and Russian 
diplomatic agents are excluded under 
the treaties. Dr. Shelton's presence 
there may not impossibly lead to many 
beneficent results in addition to th'e 
value of his services in introducing 
the healing art of the civilized nations 
into Tibet. 

The Museum Collection. 

Before leaving the United States Dr. 
Shelton at the Newark library gave 
many details concerning the various 
objects in the collection. A valuable 
catalogue has been prepared under the 
direction of Miss Louise Connolly of 
the museum and library staff. A fur- 
ther contribution from Miss Connolly 
is a bright and ' interesting ac- 
count of the religion of Tibet in 
the shape of a synopsis of the volume 
on "Lamaism," by the British writer, 
L. Austine Waddell, who spent so 
many years in the study of the sub- 
ject of w^hich he made Mmself a 
master. Miss Connolly has also pre- 
pared a brief sketchy story of 
Tibet and its people and of Dr. Shelton 
and his labors. 

^^hen on view in December an in- 
telligent consideration of the various 
objects will be greatly aided by the 
carefully prepared descriptive labels 
that will give to the visitor a mass of 
interesting information. Valuable 

work has also been done in deciphering 
such Tibetan words, inscriptions, titles 
and descriptions as appear in that 
language in manuscripts, books and 
oth'er objects through the services of 
the Rev. Albert E. Andre of Minne- 
apolis, who knows the language and 
was for fourteen years a Lutheran 
missionary in China, India and on the 
southern border of Tibet. 

A list is being prepared at the library 
of the books it possesses on the subject 
of Tibet and these, of course, can be 
borrowed or consulted by Newarkers. 
The following call for special mention: 
William Carey, Adventures in Tibet; A. 
L. Shelton, Pioneering in Tibet; L. A. 
Waddell, Lhasa and Its Mysteries, Bud- 
dhism of Tibet; Ekai Kawaguchi (a Jap- 
anese Buddhist), Three Years in Tibet; 
Rudyard Kipling, Kim; S. C. Rijnhart, 
With the Tibetans in Tent and Temple; 
O. T. Crosby, Tibet and Turkestan. 
There is also an interesting work by 
Fielding Hall, The Soul of a People, 
which gives an illuminating description 
of the Buddhism of Burmah and enables 
the reader to make comparisons of much 
significance between the religions of the 
two countries, a -comparison that is of 
unusual value. 




Part of the Library in the Litang Lamasery. 



In Kham the sacred Buddhist writings are printed from blocks, such as 
were first used in China, or are written by hand. The printing of religious 
books is one of the principal industries of the town of Litang. The Buddhist 
Bible is a "work of 108 volumes and the companion commentary -work is of 
equal bulk. 

(Copyright, 1921, by the National Geographic Magazine.) 




Tibetan Houses in the Robber-Infested Bad Lands, 



These homes are built primarily for protection. With the exception of the 
main entrance, there is no opening until the third story is reached. The style 
of architecture greatly simplifies the problem of defense against marauders. 
(Copyright, 1921, by the National Geographic Magazine.) 




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Bird's-Eye View of Batang Surrounded! by Terraced Fields. 

The white building's on the hill are the hospital and residence of the Ameri- 
can Mission. Note the head of the horse in the foreground; the photog'raph 
was taken from the vantage podnt of its back. 

(Copyright, 1921, by the National Geographic Magazine.) 



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An Elaborate Chorten (Shrine) Near Batang. 

Chortens are a common sight in Tibet and the surrounding lands. In 
Peking- there are larg-e Lama towers similar to these shrines, As^hioh are built, 
solid, thoug^h they may contain valued, relics. 

(Copyrig-ht, 1921, by the National Geographic Mag^azine.) 



12 






Men and Women Threshing With Flails on the Roof of a Batang House. 

Threshing methods are primitive throughout the East; but "with primitive 
transportation methods and small fields, a modern threshing machine would 
be useless. 

(Copyright, 1921, by the National Geographic Magazine.) 



13 




The Governor of Lower Kham, His Wife and Piper. 

This piper was brought down from Chiamdo, a ten days' journey, for the 
entertainment of the American physician and his family. The Tibetans have 
adopted the Scottish bagpipes as their national military instrument. It w^as 
startling- to hear the piper playing "The Cock of the North," "The Campbells 
Are Coming" and "The Drunken Piper." He played with great skill, for the 
Tibetan instructors have learned their music in India. 

4 



14 




Bandit Brave or Tibetan Troubadour? 

The horseman, is making a circuit of the -walls of a 
ruined lamasery at Batang. This monastery was once one 
of the most flourishing- establishments in eastern Tibet, but 
was destroyed by the Chinese during one of their invasions. 
The Tibetans are not allowed to rebuild damaged lamaseries 
or to erect new ones, for the Chinese conceive these re- 
ligious communities to be centers of rebellion. 
(Copyright, 1921, by the National Geographic Magazine.) 



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A Street Scene in Batang. 

Batang", or Paanhsien, derives most of its importance from the Tibetan trade 
route, which passes through it on its way from Yachow to Chiamdo, connecting 
the Yangtze Valley "with the highlands of Tibet. 

(Copyright, 1921, by the National Geographic Magazine.) 



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